YA Books for Middle Schoolers

Books in the Young Adult Collection that may be appropriate for those in the 6th through 8th grade or ages 10 to 14. The Young Adult Collection is made up of books for a wide range (12-18 years old) and includes a variety of different topics and interests. Not all titles will be appropriate for all readers.

Showing 1 - 20 of 86  There are a total of 87 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "The great Jeff"
Star rating for The great Jeff
Description:
Thirteen-year-old Jeff's life spirals downward into homelessness after his alcoholic mother loses her job.
Book cover for "I kill the mockingbird"
Star rating for I kill the mockingbird
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
When best friends Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird included. But not everyone in their class shares the same enthusiasm. So they hatch a plot to get the entire town talking about the well-known Harper Lee classic. "When best friends Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird included. But not everyone in their class...

3. Booked

Book cover for "Booked"
Star rating for Booked
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.
Book cover for "The crossover"
Star rating for The crossover
Series:
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
Book cover for "Almost flying"
Star rating for Almost flying
Description:
"In this unabashedly queer middle grade debut, a week-long amusement park road trip becomes a true roller coaster of emotion when Dalia realizes she has more-than-friend feelings for her new bestie"--Provided by publisher.
Book cover for "The thing about jellyfish"
Star rating for The thing about jellyfish
Average Rating:
4.9 stars
Description:
Twelve-year-old Suzy Swanson wades through her intense grief over the loss of her best friend by investigating the rare jellyfish she is convinced was responsible for her friend's death.
Book cover for "The iron trial"
Star rating for The iron trial
Author:
Series:
Magisterium volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Warned away from magic all of his life, Callum endeavors to fail the trials that would admit him to the Magisterium only to be drawn into its ranks against his will and forced to confront dark elements from his past.
Book cover for "The benefits of being an octopus"
Star rating for The benefits of being an octopus
Author:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Seventh-grader Zoey Albro focuses on caring for three younger siblings and avoiding rich classmates at school until her fascination with octopuses gets her on the debate team and she begins to speak out.
Book cover for "Fighting words"
Star rating for Fighting words
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own wolf--her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to...
Book cover for "The usual suspects"
Star rating for The usual suspects
Description:
Thelonius Mitchell is tired of being labeled. He's in special ed, separated from the "normal" kids at school who don't have any "issues." That's enough to make all the teachers and students look at him and his friends with a constant side-eye. (Although his disruptive antics and pranks have given him a rep too.) When a gun is found at a neighborhood hangout, Thelonius and his pals become instant suspects. Thelonius may be guilty of pulling crazy stunts...
Book cover for "The perfect score"
Star rating for The perfect score
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Told from different viewpoints, this is the story of five sixth-graders facing various challenges and under pressure to do well on statewide assessment tests who agree to a plan for acing those tests.
Book cover for "The princess diaries"
Star rating for The princess diaries
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
3.8 stars
Description:
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.
Book cover for "City of the plague god"
Star rating for City of the plague god
Series:
Average Rating:
3.3 stars
Description:
"Thirteen-year-old Sikander Aziz has to team up with the hero Gilgamesh in order to stop Nergal, the ancient god of plagues, from wiping out the population of Manhattan in this adventure based on Mesopotamian mythology"--
Book cover for "Karthik delivers"
Star rating for Karthik delivers
Description:
One summer during the Financial Crisis, fourteen-year-old Karthik Raghavan makes deliveries for his father's ailing Indian grocery, but he is secretly cast in a play about the young Leonard Bernstein. Includes author's note.
Book cover for "Like Vanessa"
Star rating for Like Vanessa
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
It is 1983 and Vanessa Martin, a thirteen-year-old African American girl in Newark's public housing, dreams of following in the footsteps of the first black Miss America, Vanessa Williams; but the odds are against her until a new teacher at school organizes a beauty pageant and encourages Vanessa to enter.
Book cover for "Artemis Fowl"
Star rating for Artemis Fowl
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
When twelve-year-old evil genius Artemis Fowl tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.
Book cover for "The city of Ember"
Star rating for The city of Ember
Series:
Books of Ember volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
Book cover for "The Sea of Trolls"
Star rating for The Sea of Trolls
Series:
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
Book cover for "Better Nate than ever"
Star rating for Better Nate than ever
Author:
Series:
Nate volume 1.
Average Rating:
2.5 stars
Description:
An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of "E.T."
Book cover for "Nate expectations"
Star rating for Nate expectations
Author:
Series:
Nate volume 3.
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
When E.T.: The Musical closes, Nate reluctantly returns home to begin high school and, with his best friend, Libby, makes a project of turning Dickens' Great Expectations into a musical.